Page 74 of When Night Falls

I let go of my hold on his shirt and sit back against the wall, hinting to him that it's time for him to leave.

For once, I have the control over his needs, I can tell he's begging for more.

His face twists with emotions I can't make out, but his eyes swirl with those little clouds of smoke and his lips twitch. He removes himself from the wall, and I miss the way his body heat encapsulated me.

He gives me a searing look, from my toes back up to my eyes before picking his jacket up off the floor—it must have fallen from my hands when he pushed me up against the wall in the first place—and straightens out his shirt before telling me, "Hope you have fun tonight, little one. Alone. In your room."

And then he walks away.

24

hide & seek

Rivian

"I see you and Lucynda are getting along better," Troian leans against the door frame of my office, waiting for me as I walk in angrily.

"Get out!" I shout at the both of them, Travois annoyingly touching the spines of the books lining the walls.

"You asked us here, brother," he reminds me as he turns his head and provides me with a stupid smirk, one that tells me he knows what's going on in my head right now.

I did ask them here, I wanted to hold a semblance of a family meeting before my wedding to Lucynda in two days. But desire rages through me, needing to get her out of my head. Things went too far tonight. I let her in. She knows more than I ever anticipated giving her. But I did it because the power in the way her eyes looked up at me took every ounce of control I have left when it comes to her. She looked at me like she didn't see anything else butme, not the monster that plans to ruin her lifeor the man who is obsessed with every fiber of her being, and all I could see was how vulnerable it made her. I realized then just how much she could take from me if I let her.

The thought turned me on. So I gave her what she wanted.

I let her in.

"I changed my mind." I head for my desk and snatch the gold-liquor bottle off the shelf. I grab a tumbler to pour into but before I get the chance, it shatters in my grip.

"Fuck!"

Troian jumps up from the door frame and rushes my way.

"Rivian, what the fuck?" Her caring little sister tone sinks into my gut causing me to realize that I am on the verge of a reaping. Hunger travels angrily through me.

"Stay away, Troy." I sweep the glass off into the bin next to it, opting to pop the lid off the liquor and take a drink straight from the bottle instead.

"No. You don't get to be an ass to me because you're sexually frustrated, asshat." She stops at the other end of my desk and stands with her arms crossed.

The of being able to read someone's mind makes a fool out of me as she digs hers into mine. But she doesn't get to seeeverythingthat goes on in my head. I hide access to the things that will ruin her. Ruin both of my siblings. Ruin us all. So I let her feed into this idea that my mind is rabid over lusting for Lucynda. Which isn't entirely false.

She has worked her way under my skin, and it feels so fucking nice. I yearn to have her under me, her eyes looking up at me as she bites her lip. The way she licked the blood off my mouth moments ago is what sent me into this obsessive fit. It wasn't enough. I know we both need more.

"Stay out of my head, Troy," I warn her after slamming the bottle down, liquid splashing out of the top.

"Maybe you should clear yours, Riv. Kingdom is in trouble after all." My brother dares to add his two cents into the conversation. But it doesn't take me long to decide he's right, though still not any less irksome.

"What do you know about anything? You're too busy fighting with your fiancé all the damn time. And if you're not with her you’re…" I let my thoughts fade off at the remembrance of Viktrum's words earlier.

"Where do you go at night, Travois? Just out of curiosity," I tread with a calmer tone, hoping to lighten the obvious tension in the air.

"None of your business," he spits at me.

I smirk because he really thinks he's going to get away with pushing me away like that.

"Itismy business . . . you know, with the kingdom in trouble and all." I take another gulp from the Jameson bottle; drinking from the weak stuff won't bode well for me later. “My kingdom,” I remind him.

"I do have obligations in other places," he says, leaning against the bookshelf with his hands in his pockets, his eyes looking everywhere but me.